Project S
Interactive Kiosk Ad Platform to provide the best shopping experience for shoppers purchasing alcohol
OVERVIEW
Problem
We had found an opportunity to connect alcohol distributors' marketing teams to retailers and shoppers in off-premise locations (eg. liquor stores) by creating interactive advertisement kiosks. We knew there was a clear ROI for brands but we were unsure what value proposition would be most ideal for retailers and shoppers alike.
Solution
Because the first version of this product is still in development, I am unable to state certain information in this case study; however, I will explain the process that I took and how that led to the suggestions and product decisions currently in progress.
[To comply with my non-disclosure agreement, I have omitted and obfuscated confidential information in this case study. All information in this case study is my own and does not necessarily reflect the views of Soda Labs.]
My Role
UX Designer
Researcher
Product Manager
Timeline
Jan. 2019 - July 2019
Company + Stakeholders
CEO/Business Dev/Sales, Operations Lead, Head of Product, 3 Engineers, UX Design Intern, 2 UI Designers
How might we improve the shopping experience for shoppers in liquor stores?
How might we bring value to Retailers So that they can differentiate themselves from Competitors?
My Contribution
Project S is an in-store platform designed to give customers the best shopping experience.
digital kiosk hardware + bespoke content
For Brands
Software platform to help you curate and manage content on numerous devices
We can help you gather data on the effectiveness of ads and help install and upload campaigns through our custom player application that can properly manage and display the content.
For Shoppers
Learn more about products before your point of purchase
Don't have a specific product mind? Can't make up your mind what cocktail would work best with your price point? We'll help you quickly and easily find the right product within your budget, occasion, and taste preferences.
Pairings and Recipes
Inspiration for shoppers on how to enjoy products by pairing them with food ideas. They can tap in for more information like how-to video content and recipe instructions. If a user taps "Send me this recipe", they have the option to receive a text message.
Product Spotlights
Searchable product pages that provides the information shoppers want to know about most when it comes to selecting products.
Unified Platform
Main platform that combines both branded content with helpful tips, guides and games for users to stay entertained and informed based on their personal interests.
Recommendations, Lists, Lifestyle
The solution for those who aren't sure what to get. Display interactive recommendations based on taste or occasion to help shoppers make a purchase decision.
Product Management
I wrote Version 1 of the Product Requirements Document (PRD) at the same time when I had just started researching; therefore, a significant portion of the research findings weren't yet implemented into the initial document.
[For more info on the contents and creation of the PRD, please contact me.]
Gathered context, background, stakeholders, and did market research. Performed end-user research.
[Button skips to Design Section below]
MVP Planning: Milestones,
MVP, & Launch Date
Wrote PRD
Pending: Shipped to Beta Customers + Testing
RESEARCH & DESIGN
User Research Plan
I led the team to create a UX Plan that would help break down the questions and assumptions we needed to confirm through research.
WHO
Who are the major user personas?
PAIN POINTS
What pain points do they currently have when it comes to driving more sales?
VALUE
PROPOSITION
How can we make the strongest case to retailers that our kiosk brings substantial value to their business?
SUBSTITUTES
What ads do they currently have in the stores? How successful have these ads been?
WHO
Who are the major user personas?
PAIN POINTS
How does each user persona differ from one another based on pain points and buying behavior during the shopping process?
CONTENT
PREFERENCE
What type of content is most compelling and drives the most engagement for each user persona?
PRIORITIZATION
Which user persona(s) should we prioritize based on the level of engagement?
Secondary Research
We looked at online trends in the market to learn more about the shopper's perspective. We found that:
-
Most wine and liquor buyers don't look for deals. Brand awareness is weak. However for craft beers, branding and packaging drives the purchasing decision.
-
Millennials prefer high quality products over price. They are more selective and willing to try new things compared to Baby Boomers.
-
Majority of Millennials don't have a specific brand in mind (no impulse shopping).
-
Wine shoppers are willing to try new wines.
The main drive post-Secondary Research was on verifying which values truly resonated with shoppers for each type of drink. We also decided to focus on the fact that Millennials usually do not know which specific product to purchase when entering a liquor store.
Wide Scope Survey
We decided to conduct a survey to confirm the main pain points of shoppers, narrow down the identity and characteristics of our target market, and figure out specific experiences we can improve for in-store purchases. We received over 100 responses in less than 5 days.
Survey (through Google)
Detailed Documentation on Goals
Cold Interviews
Because retailers and shoppers were two very different user groups, we had to take different approaches in how we interviewed them. One of our challenges was having to manually find contacts online. We eventually collected over 300 cleaned online retailer contacts.
RETAILERS
SHOPPERS
Created Email Templates
Sent Emails
Key Insights
I synthesized the data we were receiving from retailers and shoppers and organized the information into diagrams that helped us have a better visual understanding on various themes, flows, and data points that were consistently coming up from our users.
[images can expand to full screen mode]
Findings to Design Decisions
There are too many products in limited store space which makes it difficult for shoppers to know where products are located
Design
Feature Prioritization
Create a product inventory data base within the kiosk for shoppers to search for specific products
Business
Revenue Strategy
By having shoppers search about products through our product, we could capture data on which products interest shoppers the most in real-time.
Marketing is nonexistent in mom+pop liquor stores, making it hard for smaller retailers to accurately connect and communicate with shoppers
Design
Feature Goals
Price comparisons on kiosk
Most shoppers aren't completely sure what to purchase when they enter liquor stores and feel overwhelmed from decision fatigue
Design
Messaging, UI
Have catchy, fun, and/or helpful content on our screens with some sort of filtering capability
Business
Supply Chain
Could partner with alcohol brands who have specific branded content they want to share with shoppers (eg. 4th of July cocktail recipes)
IDK Izzy
Marketing Assistant
25
"IDK" Izzy doesn't know what she wants. She's unfamiliar with alcohol and doesn't buy often. She's only familiar with a few popular brands. She's not picky when it comes to alcohol and normally purchases it for specific events and occasions (eg. potluck, holiday party, date night).
Motivations
Needs
-
Easy, quick to learn about trends, tastes, and major product information
-
Access to credible alcohol product reviews
-
Guidance on the right occasion, taste preference and price
Goals
-
Wants to purchase alcohol that fits the occasion
-
Stay within budget
-
Wants to receive social approval on her purchasing decisions
"I don't know which drink I want to buy!"
Affordability
Willingness to Explore
Convenience Factor
Loyalty to Brands
Enters store needing to buy something for friend's 23rd birthday party
I think most people like beer...maybe I'll just get that then.
Oh, the packaging for that beer pack looks cool. Seems hip and trendy.
Hm... compared to the other beer products, price is average. Sounds reasonable.
Time to buy! Hope my friends like this although I have no idea what it tastes like.
Purchasing Thought Process
Personas
We refined the original end-user persona we had to the following. We narrowed down our target market to solely be within Millennials to help refine our design concepts at a more effective level.
Ad Content
Brainstorms
& Prioritization
Based on the evidence we collected from user research, we conducted multiple brainstorming sessions before going through prioritization exercises to narrow down which ad content concepts would align with potential end-user value and business impact.
Wireframes
I broke down our top 10 ad concepts into detailed descriptions on what it would entail. In combination, we began to create quick and rough wireframe mockups to communicate these ideas with our stakeholders. From the diagrams and descriptions below, we were able to narrow it further into V1 vs V2 features that we needed to build and prototype.
Hi-Fidelity Design
Below you'll find most of the screens we designed for our first round of testing. We had to make these relatively quickly due to time constraints. We went for hi-fidelity rather than low-fi because of the particular hypotheses we were trying to confirm.
Education
Personalization
Entertainment
Utility Features
The hamburger menu gives shoppers constant access to our utility features.
Product Showcase Page
To find more info about specific products, shoppers can quickly and easily scan the packaging. Some shoppers don't want ask sales rep for help or search through their mobile devices for specific info.
Inventory Checker
Each product page will indicate if a product exists in the store.
3rd Party Product Ratings
Shoppers purchase based on recommendations of others
Product Saver Checklist
As shoppers surf through the kiosk, they can save all recipes and specific products in a checklist. The shopper will be prompted to enter their phone number so that the list can be sent to the shopper.
Similar Product Suggestion
Most people tend to like specific types of alcohol but also like to explore within the product types they have an affinity towards. Having a suggestions list can help them easily find similar products they may like.
EVERGREEN UTILITY FEATURES
PRODUCT SHOWCASE PAGE
BRANDED ROTATIONAL ADS
SALESREP ALTERNATIVES
Cocktail Generator
Drag and drop ingredients to find out what type of cocktails you can make. Find list of similar cocktail recipes.
Mini Game
Game that includes pop culture reference and leaderboard can help engage users to fun content while waiting. Could also include branded content.
Calculator for Large Groups
Shoppers have trouble figuring out how much alcohol they should purchase when buying for larger parties.
User Testing
I led our team's efforts in testing our hi-fidelity prototypes (that we created based on our top 10 ad concepts) at a local liquor store. The best method was to go through each screen asking users for how the content made them feel, if it interested them (would they tap on it) and why, and what they thought we be of most use to them.
Hypotheses from User Feedback
Context: All interviews were conducted right after purchase. We conducted interviews with 7 shoppers so findings are based on a very limited range of data. The location of the liquor store is also more for local residents who have close, familiar relationships with store employees. We interviewed on a Friday 4-6pm and Saturday 10-11pm. The overall demographics of the shoppers interviewed may not hit our original target market towards Millennials who don't know what to purchase.
Next Steps
The team is trying to figure out what are the best ways of combining both permanent utility features with the temporary rotational ads into a home platform layout.
Lessons Learned
This project gave me the opportunity to experience the whole product development process with the added responsibility of managing an intern. There were many highs and lows but I strongly believe that the failures and achievements from this project has transformed me to become a designer with a much better acumen in visual design, a start up teammate who understands how to test products and prototypes quickly and with limited resources, and a leader who knows the crucial respect and time that needs to go into planning when it comes to being a manager.
To be an effective designer, be realistic.
I learned and grew the most when it came to the actual research and design portion of this project. I mastered the art of planning, conducting, and leading research exercises but also realized that I needed to be more aware of constraints that could weaken and destabilize my research and planning strategy. I now have a better awareness on how to conduct scrappy research methods for lower budget projects and how to be more realistic on planning and scheduling research to insights.
To be a good leader, you need to be honest about your weaknesses
All the components of product management allowed me to confront my own flaws as a teammate, teaching me the importance of being aware of my own flaws/potential pitfalls and more importantly, being honest about these vulnerabilities with the team. Now I can predict much better when I may have moments of less drive and motivation because I better understand myself.
Creating an internship program is a job in itself
I took this on as a design assignment in itself, researching and interviewing students to understand what they valued most in an internship, analyzing competitors' job postings and internship programs, and developing my own strategy for hiring, interviewing, and managing an intern. The whole process was extremely fulfilling and made me have a new level of appreciation and respect for recruiters and HR teams.
